Noalen of Clan Lavellan
Life is a vast field where we either follow the barren trackways beaten by others or diverge and feel the grass between our toes. ' '''Noalen is a Dalish elf mage who attended the Divine Conclave in 9:41 Dragon. Following an explosion after a magical ritual gone awry, a magical mark was left on his left hand and he became known as the Herald of Andraste and later Inquisitor of the Second Inquisition. Overview Physical Appearance Like many elves, Noalen is slender without much muscular development to speak of. Compared to most other elves however, he is also unusually tall; as a result, 'the tall elf' has become somewhat of a sobriquet for him. After arriving at Haven, most people were surprised an elf from the Dalish clans, a people who spend most of their lives outside, could be so pale. In truth, Noalen is naturally light skinned, a trait inherited from his father. He tans easily in the sun and had a much darker complexion while still living with his clan. But as quickly as his skin darkens, it blanches just as easily in the absence of sunlight. His journey from the Free Marches to the Conclave offered his skin more than enough time to revert to its natural ivory colour. His unusually coloured eyes often strike people as his most recognisable feature; his pupils are surrounded by a ring of golden brown, his outer irises are of grey green colouring, which can look grey, green and at times even turquoise depending on the light shed upon them. His long, wavy hair is a dark shade of golden blonde, usually kept together either in a ponytail or a dishevelled braid, unruly strands hanging loosely around his face most of the time. Noalen himself does not much care for his looks. His long, narrow face seems disproportionate to him and, along with his long nose, is a source of insecurity to him. He would not consider himself good looking by any standard. Odd most likely, 'unusual' at best, but not attractive. Others are generally more forgiving when describing him, seeing a unique face, easily remembered; a pair of beautiful, distinctly elven eyes and elegantly shaped lips. Most also find his smile very endearing, especially since he gets dimples in his cheeks when he does, a trait that has effectively earned him the nickname 'Dimples' with Varric. Ever since Noalen finally sat through an entire marking session with Keeper Deshanna at age 21, his face has been adorned with the vallaslin of Mythal, the elven All-Mother, Protector and goddess of Justice and Love. Personality Noalen is curious, open-minded, reserved - even distant - and has a dry sense of humour. Growing up among the Dalish, Noalen may have learned many a thing about survival in the wilds. It did, however, teach him very little about the outside world and its dominant culture and society, leaving him woefully ignorant about most issues plaguing Thedas. His closest advisors in the Inquisition frequently regard him as 'naive' and 'sheltered'. Noalen is very much a daydreamer, having spent the majority of his youth and young adulthood retreating into the realms of his imagination. He often gives off the impression of being countless miles away and sometimes has difficulty pulling himself back to reality. He tends to form ideas and theories in his head that have little foundation in realism and he is inclined to view memories through rose coloured lenses, putting them on a pedestal that reality cannot reach. Noalen very much enjoys the idea ''of certain concepts, but when confronted with reality often finds himself disappointed that it rarely lives up to his expectations and fantasies. Noalen is introverted, withdrawn and quiet, finding solace within the comfort of his own mind. To people who don't know him well, this can make him come across as distant, quiet and at times cold. Those who do take the time to get to know him and prove themselves trustworthy are however quick to find a warm, compassionate core inside this shell. When Noalen truly comes to care for someone, he is loyal to a fault and mates for life. He usually tries to see the good in people, exerting mercy wherever possible and his gentle, kind nature becomes apparent sooner or later to most people who meet him. Undogmatic and curious, Noalen delights in learning about and understanding different people, cultures and ideas. His nonconformist and spiritual nature make him open to new experiences, especially those often misunderstood or ignored. Noalen has an almost pathological need to feel utterly safe and dislikes unpredictable situations - hence opening up to people and showing his vulnerable side is something he avoids whenever he can. His greatest wish however is to find a home for himself, a stable base, static and reliable, something he can always fall back on - perhaps even finding this in someone else. Regrettably, this also renders him 'static' on a personal level rather often. He is afraid to take active steps in any direction which prevents him from truly growing as a person and overcoming his fears. Anxious and prone to melancholy, fear controls much of his life and actions; prevents him from rising to his true potential. He fears other people, he fears being hurt and - most of all - he fears abandonment from people he has opened up to and cares for. He is afraid anyone who comes to know him, his true personality, will sooner or later come to consider him 'not good enough' or disagreeable and leave. These fears also tie in with his strong desire to remain in control of himself and his life. He's very afraid of uncontrollable situations and he detests unpredictability. He favours ice magic over the other two primal elements; ice being contained, predictable and easily focused onto a single point. Fire and electricity are too unruly, too prone to spread and get out of control. 'Talents and Skills' As a mage and a Dalish elf, Noalen can count many a practical skill among his arsenal. * '''Survival '- Having lived a nomadic life, Noalen can navigate the wilds very well. He can hunt, skin animals and cook. He has a rudimentary understanding of herbalism, is an excellent climber and can forecast weather changes. * Magic '- Noalen is a naturally talented mage, his ties to magical energies and the Fade are unusually strong. He can 'hear' the flow of the arcane all around him and is well-versed in transmutation magic, drawing mana from myriad sources. He was taught the secrets of Nature Magic by his Keeper but has always had a more inherent inclination towards Creation and Spirit Magic. His battle skills are best described as 'adequate'. While he possesses a certain knack for Ice Magic, his true talent lies more in protection, healing and evasion. * '''Dreamer '- Some years after his magic first manifested, Noalen started to experience the first symptoms of Somniari. Naturally drawn to the Fade and the realms of imagination, there is no telling how good a Dreamer he may have become with proper tutelage. This was not to be though as he has ingested dream suppressants from adolescence at the behest of Keeper Deshanna. During his time with the Inquisition, Solas teaches him how to control his skills, but it would only be much later that Noalen actually discovers the truth about being a Dreamer at all. Biography '''History Born on the fourteenth of Wintermarch, 9:15 Dragon to Athalia, a young, recently widowed huntress, his mother named him after his paternal grandfather, as Ezrin, Noalen's father, had wanted. Noalen quickly proved to be a burdensome infant, crying frequently and waking from his sleep. His mother, overwhelmed and unwilling to raise a child on her own, often left the infant by itself to go hunting with the other elves. Deshanna, herself quite young at the time and still a First in training to the Keeper then, took pity on the child and took him under her wing, effectively raising Noalen as her own. Though he proved to be a difficult child. As soon as he learned to talk he started questioning the stories told by the Keeper and was quite reluctant to accept facts as facts. He grew up to be a curious and stubborn child, frequently wandering off on his own, often watching nearby human settlements from a distance. He became intrigued by humans and sceptical about the things his clan had taught him about them. With his naive look on things, he saw nothing more than a species not particularly different from his own people, mostly just trying to make a living through hard work. They faced the same weather, the same illnesses and emotional hardships as the Dalish, after all. His persistent absences from and lack of active participation in the clan led to him becoming somewhat of an outcast. The other clan members did not know what to make of him and found his curiosity about humans peculiar. Clan Lavellan had never held decidedly anti-human views; even after some of their hunters had been killed by Orlesian Chevaliers in the Dales, which made the clan decide to venture north and roam the Free Marches, they continued to treat the humans they traded with fairly - albeit warily. Some had stronger opinions on this than others, but all of them agreed that it was best to keep humans at a safe distance. Noalen's fascination for them was not met with approval and made most of the clan regard him as even more of an oddity. Despite all this, the clan cared for him like they did for the other three children of his age and they tried to interest him more in elven traditions, religion and actively attempted to include him in the clan's daily life. Deshanna, having only just reached the age of thirty when Keeper Marlthan'el passed away and she became Keeper herself, was quite preoccupied with her new duties and left Noalen - who was only six years old at the time - alone for the most part. She was convinced that he would find his own way in the clan and - being rather open minded herself - was not particularly worried about his unusually strong interest in humans so she frequently tolerated his behaviour and defended him from the criticisms many other clan members conveyed about him. Despite his 'rebellious' nature - Noalen proved to be the kind of child who could go on asking 'Why?' endlessly - he did come to enjoy life in the clan; his fondest memories being of the evenings when they all sat together around the campfire, sharing stories and discussing the day. He also became quite close to Nathari, the clan's Halla Keeper. He loved the halla; their strong-willed nature and refusal to let themselves be kept and caged like pets and having the will of others imposed on them a source of fascination to Noalen. He often wandered the wilds with them, following them wherever they led him and helped raise a newborn when he was seven years old. Two years later, when he was only nine, he became one of the youngest Halla riders the clan had raised in three generations, which gained him at least a little respect within the clan. The first display of his magical talent occurred when he was ten years old. While he was playing catch with two of the other children his age, he unwittingly performed a spell very akin to 'Fade Step', dissolving into a cloud of an icy, gas like substance, rematerialising several feet away. Deshanna took this revelation in stride, though she was disappointed. She had hoped to keep Noalen, whose standing with the clan was not particularly high and whom she considered too 'soft', away from authorative duties, instead wanting him to become Nathari's apprentice and eventual successor. Besides, she - like most of the clan - still held high hopes for Neriel, the granddaughter of the late Mathan'el, to show signs of magical talent. Though magic ran strong in their bloodline, Nawen, at fifteen years old, had yet to display any manifestation of the gift. Deshanna decided that the best she could do was to teach Noalen to at least control his magic, especially since it had a tendency to burst forth from him with increasing force - like the time he inadvertently cast a massive wave of force similar to Mind Blast from himself, effectively hurling a young hunter apprentice who had been bullying him several feet through the air. The Keeper quickly came to realise that Noalen showed promise for healing magic, rejoicing in using his gift to do good and she mainly focused his training on restorative magic. The young elf enjoyed performing magic a lot and was keen to learn as much as he could in as short a time as possible - with varying success. The next few years of Noalen's life passed rather uneventfully. He more or less found a place for himself in the clan and even though he had not yet officially been appointed First to the Keeper, most of the clan had already come to regard him as such - with varying degrees of reluctance. His interest in humans never faltered however, if anything it only became stronger, but most clan members had resigned themselves to tolerate it as an eccentricity of his as long as nothing more came of it. When Noalen was just shy of sixteen however and the clan was camped just outside of Ostwick, he made the acquaintance of Brann, a human stable boy, the first time Noalen came into contact with a human directly. Though apprehensive at first, the two of them quickly developed a strong friendship and eventually Noalen fell in love with the young man. Deshanna knew about this, having been informed of the two young men's association by a group of elven scouts who had witnessed them spending time together. For a time the Keeper defended Noalen from the clan's resentment, assuring them that it was nothing more than an innocent, young friendship and that the human would in all likelihood come to mistreat Noalen sooner or later, like all humans eventually did and that this would teach the young elf a lesson better than simply forbidding him to associate with the young man could. But, as the opposing voices grew more adamant over the next year, the Keeper ultimately decided to have the clan pack up and leave. The last time Noalen met Brann to bid him farewell, the young elf found the courage to confess his feelings to him but was met with rejection. This experience scarred Noalen deeply and over the course of the next few months he grew quiet and distant. He still attended his magical lessons with the Keeper, albeit with much less enthusiasm than before. Deshanna eventually appointed Noalen her First as Neriel, 22 years old by now and pregnant with her second child, had still not shown any signs of magic. Following Noalen's first experience of love, his nightly dreams started to become increasingly realistic, even more so than they already had been. It came to a point where he developed a difficulty to tell dreams and reality apart and when he confided in his Keeper about this, she suspected him of being a Somniari. Deshanna knew hardly anything about the entire concept but she knew enough that dreamers could easily become a great danger to themselves and anyone around them if they were too frail of mind to withstand the Fade and all its trappings. She feared for Noalen and ordered him to ingest dream suppressing herbs every night. She did not inform him or anyone else in the clan of her suspicions, instead telling Noalen that he was too fragile to effectively oppose the demons he could possibly encounter in his dreams. This had a profound effect on Noalen's psyche. He became afraid of the Fade and his own magic and his powers suffered greatly from it. Instead of drawing energy from the Fade, he resigned himself to draw magic from nature and already existing magic around him. While he taught himself to become an adequate Transmutation mage this way, his magic would never be as strong as that of a mage who could confidently manipulate the Fade and draw energy from it. During the next few years Noalen took part in clan life, though always in a state of emotional seclusion. He still wandered off on his own frequently, though mostly in secret now and watched human settlements from a distance - but his former curiosity and fascination had been replaced by a strong sensation of melancholy. When he was seventeen years old, the Keeper decided that it was time for him to become an adult member of the clan and granted him permission to acquire his vallaslin. It came as no surprise to anyone that he pledged himself to Ghilan'nain, the elven goddess of the Halla, though Noalen would become known for his inability to keep quiet during the process of application. It ultimately took him six attempts to receive his fully finished vallaslin, a record in the recorded history of the clan and he sported a vallaslin in different stages of completion for years. At the end of the year 9:40 Dragon Deshanna chose Noalen to attend the Conclave which was to take place on 12 Wintermarch 9:41 Dragon. She made this decision based mostly on Noalen's interest in humans and the unwillingness of any other clan member to venture south. The Keeper was curious about the outcome of the meeting; the mage rebellion could bring danger even upon the Dalish, after all, as every mage was now considered an apostate and actively hunted. In-game WIP Post-game WIP Relationships WIP Trivia * In the elven language, Noalen means "seventh child". It pertains to an old elven children's story wherein 'Noalen' was the name of the seventh day of the week, which Solas reveals to him at Skyhold. * Noalen is oddly touchy about revealing his age; when asked, he claims that the Dalish do not live by an exact calendar but rather the changing of the weather and the seasons and do not keep track of years the way other peoples do. It is a habit he has adopted from Keeper Deshanna. * His greatest fear is Uncertainty. * Noalen can 'hear' magic and often refers to magical energies as 'songs'. * Varric calls Noalen 'Dimples'. * Noalen's greatest dream is to become a Seer in Rivain. * His favourite colour is green. * Noalen can speak basic conversational Orlesian. * He tends to dress in rather muted colours and comfortable clothing. * Noalen is fond of horses and riding. * He enjoys coffee and an occasional glass of Absence. He also has a fondness for Orlesian cakes, especially 'the purple ones with the black spots'. 'Links' Reddit Headcanon Threads: Reddit Writing prompt Threads: Non-Reddit links (AO3, DeviantArt, Tumblr): Gallery NoalenFade.png|Noalen in the Fade NoalenImprisoned.png|Noalen being interrogated in Haven Noalen&Solas.png|First meetings with Solas tend to be strange Noalen&Varric.png|The start of a great friendship RiftClosing.png|Closing a rift Giselle&Noalen.png|Meeting Mother Giselle in the Hinterlands ValRoyeaux.png|In Val Royeaux FelixNoalenDorian.png|Meeting Felix and Dorian in Redcliffe's Chantry EvralenSnow.png|Evrion & Noalen meeting Scout Harding in Emprise du Lion Broalen4.png|Brann & Noalen at 19 and 16 years of age, respectively